Into the future

Kansas Citians are lucky to live in a town with a great parks and boulevards system, and we are blessed to have had several fine parks department directors, but none better than our retiring director, Mark McHenry.

We believe Mark is the best parks director in the whole country.

Starting in the new year, our parks director will be Terry Rynard, who has been Mark’s assistant director and the first woman to hold that position. She will also be the first woman director in the department’s 126-year history.

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The parks have never looked better, and we believe Terry will continue to make people in this town feel grateful for its fine parks and boulevard system.

Carl J. DiCapo

Ollie W. Gates

Anita B. Gorman

Kansas City

The actual problem

The headline of Vahe Gregorian’s column on the front page of Thursday’s sports section argued that Chiefs quarterback Patrick “Mahomes needs to be ‘even better in postseason.’” In my opinion, there are many positions that need to be better other than Mahomes.

The team wouldn’t be anywhere close to where it is today without Mahomes. He has already set many records, yet Gregorian is saying he needs to improve.

Why was there no mention of needed improvements for the defense, cornerbacks, safeties or offensive line?

Coach Andy Reid sits with Mahomes on the bench, supposedly coaching him on being a better quarterback. However, Reid is the head coach — you would think he would be spending that time with the defensive coach.

That’s where the Chiefs’ problem lies, not with the quarterback.

Gary Crane

Shawnee

Stop complaining

Would it be possible for The Star to set up a “Chiefs Crises” column in the sports pages so those of us who don’t care won’t have to suffer through whining letters of utter despair virtually every day?

Chiefs fans, with their hand-wringing over a couple of late-season losses, can’t seem to understand how life, including the game of football, works.

The letters, like so many Chiefs fans, are annoying. These fans need to deal with it or find a different team to root for. I have a few suggestions.

Thomas Schmidt

Olathe

They’re just words

Eric Adler’s story about Jim McClintock helping teens in foster care was a perfectly written and heartwarming story to start my Christmas Day. (1A, “Christmas tweet opens many hearts to help Kansas foster teens”)

The same day, we also read about Evans Kamuru, who received an outpouring of charity at the Gospel Outreach Center’s annual Christmas dinner to replace his two missing front teeth. (6A, “Man wanted two front teeth for Christmas, and he got more than that”)

Now tell me why of all the letters to the editor The Star received, it also featured one that day complaining about the word “cigarette” in an old song. (11A)

In centuries past we had lists of condemned books. Now we will have a list of condemned everyday words or phrases that cannot be used.

Barbara Smith

Olathe

It’s offensive

Really, Star editorial board? You publish an editorial bashing Kansas City officials for being defensive about the Open Spaces arts festival, when you are one of the main reasons they must be defensive. (Dec. 27, 12A, “There’s no reason to be so defensive about KC’s Open Spaces public art experiment”)

In your efforts to punish anybody and everybody for anything that might have gone wrong, you have greatly contributed to the apologetic tone in the city. As a daily reader and subscriber, I have concluded that your writers often attempt to take potshots at somebody or something. No doubt the broadcast media behave similarly.

Is it any wonder that people are defensive?

Mike Carpenter

Parkville

No improvement

Taxpayer money that was used to revamp the Mid-Continent Public Library branch in Gladstone was wasted.

The parking lot was redone to accommodate disabled patrons. But when you enter the parking lot, there is a “Do not enter” sign.

It directs you to veer to the left, and then you go around the building to park. But if you have a handicapped card or license, you are supposed to park across from the building’s entrance.

The problem is that some people apparently can’t read. They go straight to the “Do not enter” area to drop off the disabled (or the lazy), thus creating the potential for a head-on collision with patrons exiting the building.

I have commented to employees many times, and they do not seem to care. If there is a bad accident there, will they maybe consider a change? I doubt it.

After spending all those taxpayer funds, I fail to see the improvement.

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